Redbud VC Fund II

About Redbud VC Fund II

Columbia, Missouri-based pre-seed and seed fund backing "outsider founders" — first-time entrepreneurs, immigrants, and Midwest builders. 5x step-up from Fund I ($5M), which delivered 48% IRR and 1.7x TVPI. Formerly known as Scale VC.

Investment Focus

Location / RegionUnited States

Funding StagePre Seed

Industry Focus

Ai Ml

Deep Tech

Fintech

Prop Tech

Saas

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Resilient outsider founder, any geography, first-check to pre-seed

outsider-founders

pre-seed-global

immigrant-founders

first-time-entrepreneurs

generalist-no-industry-bias

Bullish Signals

Fund II closed at $25M — 5x step-up backed by actual 48% IRR track recordblog

Co-investors include Sequoia and Y Combinator following Redbud into portfolio companiesblog

1,500 founder calls per year signals exceptional sourcing depth for fund sizeblog

21% DPI on a pre-seed fund of this vintage is rare — real capital returned to LPsblog

$150M raised via network for 44 portfolio companieswebsite

500+ intros secured; 20+ avg in first 6 monthswebsite

First institutional check in 60%+ of portfoliowebsite

OneImaging raised $38M follow-on — portfolio breakout signalwebsite

15,000+ newsletter readers — strong founder community flywheelwebsite

Contrarian Signals

Small fund size creates structural limits on pro rata and follow-on reservesblog

Explicitly rejects coastal-pedigree pattern-matching — Stanford/YC bias a dealbreakerblog

Generalist mandate — no sector focus may dilute expertisewebsite

Columbia, MO HQ — limited tier-1 metro deal flow accesswebsite

Founder Do's

Pitch directly — no intro required, open to anyone

Highlight first-time founder, immigrant, or Midwest roots

Raise first-check to pre-seed; $150K checks confirmed

Emphasize resilience and struggle in your story

Leverage network access — 20+ intros in first 6 months

Founder Don'ts

Don't pitch post-seed — too late stage

Don't expect industry-specific thesis fit — generalist but resilience-first

Don't rely on coastal pedigree as signal — irrelevant here

Key GPs & Partners

Brett Calhoun

Managing General Partner

fast-movermetrics-drivencommunity-builder

Willy Schlacks

General Partner

ex-founderhands-oncontrarian

Jabbok Schlacks

General Partner

ex-founderhands-onthesis-driven

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Fund Overview

Fund Size$25M

Saves0

Website

Key People

Brett Calhoun, Willy Schlacks, Jabbok Schlacks

Brett CalhounManaging General Partner

Willy SchlacksGeneral Partner

Jabbok SchlacksGeneral Partner